thekristoffersuniverseinwarfandomcom-20200213-history
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union (Terminator universe)
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union (Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик Сове́тский Сою́з, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik Sovetskij Soyuz), more officially known as the Soviet Union (Russian: Сове́тский Сою́з, tr. Sovetskij Soyuz), is the largest country in the world, situated in northern Eurasia. It is a constitutionally socialist state ruled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union with its capital in Moscow. A union of multiple subnational Soviet republics, with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Terminator universe) comprising 89 federal subjects, its government and economy were highly centralized until the 1990s. From northwest to southeast, the Soviet Union shares land borders with the European Union, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the United States of America by the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. At 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,538 square miles), the Soviet Union is by far the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. The Soviet Union is also the third most populous country in the world with over 360 million people as of 2029. Extending across the entirety of northern Eurasia, the Soviet Union spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs, who emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their desdescendants, the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millenium. Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of the Rus' lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion of Rus', and became tributaries of the nomadic Golden Horde. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde, and came to dominate the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland in Europe to Alaska in North America. Following the Russian Revolution, which deposed the imperial autocracy the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Terminator universe) became the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower, which played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Bolsheviks of the Social Democratic Labour Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, then led a second revolution, the October Revolution which overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, beginning the Russian Civil War between pro-revolution Reds and counter-revolution Whites. The Red Army entered several territories of the former Russian Empire and organized workers and peasants into soviets under Communist leadership. In 1922, the Communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, and the Byelorussian Soviet republics. Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism and initiated a centrally planned economy. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialisation and collectivisation which laid the basis for its later war effort and dominance after World War II. In the wake of the spread of fascism through Europe, Stalin repressed both Communist Party members and elements of the population by creating an atmosphere of political paranoia and establishing a system of correctional labour camps. In the beginning of World War II, the Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union, initially avoiding confrontation, but the treaty was disregarded in 1941 when the Nazis invaded, opening the largest and bloodiest theatre of combat in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the cost of acquiring the upper hand over Axis Powers forces at intense battles such as the Battle of Stalingrad, Siege of Leningrad, and the Battle of Kursk. Soviet forces eventually drove through Eastern Europe and captured Berlin in 1945, inflicting the vast majority of German losses. Soviet occupied territory conquered from Axis forces in Central and Eastern Europe became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. Ideological and political differences with Western Bloc counterparts directed by the United States of America led to the forming of economic and military pacts, culminating in the prolonged Cold War. A de-Stalinization period followed Stalin's death, reducing the harshest aspects of society. The Soviet Union then went on to initiate significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including launching the first ever satellite and world's first human spaceflight, which led it into the Space Race. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis marked a period of extreme tension between the two superpowers, considered the closest to a mutual nuclear confrontation. In the 1970s, a relaxation of relations followed, but tensions resumed with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The occupation drained economic resources and dragged on without achieving meaningful political results. In the late 1980s the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform the Union and move it in the direction of Nordic-style social democracy, introducing the policies of glasnost and perestroika in an attempt to end the period of economic stagnation and democratize the government. However, this led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements. Central authorities initiated a referendum, boycotted by the Baltic republics and Georgia, which resulted in the majority of participating citizens voting in favour of preserving the Union as the Union of Soviet Sovereign States of the Soviet Union. On 20 August 1991, the New Union Treaty was signed by nine Soviet republics, which saw the establishment of the Union of Soviet Sovereign States of the Soviet Union (USSS), while Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Georgia, and Moldavia became independent states. The 1990s saw the rise of Soviet nationalism, which marked the formation of new Soviet republics, increasing the total number from 9 to 33 Soviet republics, with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic remaining as the largest, most populous and the most economically developed republic. The Soviet economy grew rapidly during the era, becoming the second largest national economy in the world. The Soviet Union secretly also developed an very advanced military system of automated defenses during the 1990s, which proved very effective when shooting down incoming enemy nuclear warheads. On Judgment Day 25 July 2004, Skynet launched nuclear missiles against targets in the Soviet Union. Thanks to the very advanced system of automated defenses, the Soviet Union was not hit by any single nuclear missile, and in respond launched their own nuclear warheads against the United States. This paved the way for World War III between the Resistance, which the Soviet Union joined as the largest and most powerful member state, and Skynet's army of Terminators. The Soviet Union plays a key role in the survival of the Resistance, as the Soviet defense industry provides the Resistance with weapons of various types. Category:Nations (Terminator universe) Category:Resistance (Terminator universe)